A Look at Asthma and Inhaled Steroids in Children

Any study that has to deal with asthma and its treatment is important to notice because of the growing problem of asthma in the country. When it deals with steroids, a particularly important treatment, it becomes even more pressing. According to two separate reports in the New England Journal of Medicine, using inhaled steroids to treat asthma in young children does not alter the course of the disease and should not be used for that purpose. According to two studies, there is no doubt that inhaled steroids such as Pulmicort and Flovent reduce swelling and inflammation in the airways and help control the wheezing and breathlessness associated with asthma. But some doctors prescribe them to very young children considered at risk of developing asthma in the hope that the disease won’t develop in the first place. This doesn’t work. It’s important to know this because steroid medications are not without side-effects and should not be used without caution and worry about limited use.